top of page

Consultative Selling (Reliance Nippon) - Handling Customer Rejections (NOs)

Writer's picture: Udayan Salim BanerjeeUdayan Salim Banerjee

Updated: Dec 4, 2024

One honest confession I have heard on numerous occasions in my sales workshops is – ‘Even after so many years, I still find it difficult to handle customer rejections.’


Customer rejections (NOs) are an integral part of sales. Find me a salesperson who has never faced a single customer rejection and I’ll show you how turn lead into gold.


Sales professionals endure numerous NOs before hitting a YES, which in itself can be demotivating. And if the YES is too far and few between the NOs, it also becomes extremely demoralising.  


A. How to embrace customer rejections without getting derailed:


1. Accept the fact that customers have the right to say NO.


2. Accept the reality that sales is a numbers game in which you don’t always get a YES, but if you don’t crunch the numbers you don’t get a YES at all.


3. Don’t get emotional but stay logical – critically analyse where you went wrong (unable to understand customer needs, highlight benefits, handle objections, etc.) and plug the gap.


4. Don’t accept rejection at face value - probe to understand the root cause. Probing will also help you understand whether the customer possesses sufficient information to take the decision to reject. If they don’t, share the missing info and you may be able to reverse the decision from rejection to acceptance.


5. Change your perspective - don’t view NOs as the rule but rather as exceptions, regardless of how often they occur.


B. How to minimize customer rejections:


1. Act as an advisor, and not as a ‘seller’.


2. Create Moments of Magic to WOW customers.


3. Build strong emotional connections with your customers by helping them understand that you are there to provide the right solutions (your products or services) to their current needs.

 

4. Be open & transparent with your customers regarding the benefits and limitations of your products and services.

 

5. Clarify customer doubts, objections and misconceptions honestly, without lying, over exaggerating or giving misleading information.


6. Present correct, complete, clear & convincing (4Cs) information to customers to help them make an informed buying decision.


7. Make your conversation credible by aligning your non verbal cues (body language & tone) with your words.

 

8. Don’t adopt a transactional approach with customers for short-term gains. Instead, build long-term relationships that are meaningful and productive.


9. Don’t take advantage of your customer’s perceived gullibility, lack of awareness or emotional state.

 

10. Don’t force the sale, let the customer take ownership of his buying decision.



Consultative Selling Skills Workshop for Reliance Nippon.




8 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page